Store Owner Says Sale Signs Are Proof A Recession Is Here

COVER STORY

Hudsan-marcus Doesn't See Many Big-time Spenders Any More

November 5, 1990|By Gene Yasuda of The Sentinel Staff

During good times, Hudsan-Marcus attracts shoppers who have no problem dropping $1,000 or more for a stylish European suit.

When business is a bit slow, a ''sale'' sign might be displayed to lure customers, said Hud Esfahani, co-owner of three fine men's clothing stores in Central Florida. But, he stressed, sales don't come often at Hudsan-Marcus.

The sale signs can mean only one thing, Esfahani said. The long-feared recession has arrived.

Indeed, the slowdown in the economy has reduced business to a trickle.

So Esfahani and his partner, Marcus Faller, have been forced to conduct more sales, reduce inventory, order less-expensive goods and cut personnel.

Hudsan-Marcus' three outlets were staffed each by two or three clerks. Esfahani and Faller now man the downtown Orlando and Winter Park stores alone while the Longwood shop has one clerk.

''The government may not want to talk about it, but we've been in a recession for the past nine months or so,'' Esfahani said. ''My customers used to come in here and spend $1,000 or $1,200 a shot on a suit. Well, that's not happening any more.

''We're not ordering any more of the expensive suits,'' he said. ''We're cutting back the same way our customers are cutting back.

''We're trying to purchase clothes that have the same look as the expensive suits but not the same brand name. This way, we can sell them the things that they're looking for. But now they can pay $600 instead of $1,200.''

Anticipating that the slowdown will only get worse, the owners have cut inventory in half.

Three years ago, the Winter Park outlet had $500,000 in inventory. Now it has $250,000 worth of clothing in stock, Faller said.

Advertising, meanwhile, is almost out of the question.

''Besides the fact that it's something that we really can't afford right now, you don't really need it,'' Faller said. ''You advertise to let people know that you're having a sale. But these days everybody's offering a sale and the shoppers know it. So what's the point?''

Even increases in the number of free-spending foreign travelers have done little to cheer Esfahani, even though a Hudsan-Marcus outlet is only a few steps down the road from busy Church Street Station.

''Most of them aren't coming here to buy suits,'' Esfahani said. ''They want to spend their money at attractions, restaurants, clubs. They might also go shopping at the malls, but they're not going to be coming into my store. At least I haven't seen them yet.''

Esfahani said his business isn't the only one suffering.

''You get the sense that everybody's hurting,'' he said. ''I talked to my hairdresser the other day and even she said she's had no business.

''I asked how could that be. People still have to get their hair cut during a recession. My hairdresser told me that her clients who come in once every three weeks now only come in once every six weeks.

''When people tell you that Florida is recession-proof or recession-resistant, that's a lot of B.S.,'' he said.